Chapter 132 – Her Shadow

Chapter 132 – Her Shadow


Trinity's POV

The word fell like a curse. "Her"

It wasn't merely a name withheld, it was a tempest clawing at the windows and a tide of terror seeping through the walls of the cabin. My belly twisted, urging me to shift, to press for answers and to tear the truth from Kael's lips with my own hands if need be but none of us moved.

Nasir's arm had tightened under my hand, muscles coiled like springs and Lucian's snarl was now a low, thrumming purr that seemed to seep up the floorboards and take habitation in my bones. And Kael, he just stood there with eyes blazing half-red, half-defying, half-begging and though his smirk tried to pretend otherwise.

I swallowed hard "Who is Her?"

Kael tilted his head and for an instant, his mask shattered. I saw real pain, not the fake kind men like him wore to lure others into their twisted games.

Lucian stepped closer, claws unsheathing "Enough riddles Kael. You don't get to show up after years of nothing, after betrayal and whisper prophecies like some cursed oracle. Either speak plainly or bleed"

Kael's smile faltered, then regained its hold "You think I'm here for games and for old times sake?" His gaze slid to Nasir, stayed with a weight that tightened my chest "I'm here because she's awake"

The air cracked like breaking ice on a frozen lake.

Nasir's head jerked toward him, eyes blazing and fangs bared just beneath his lip "You're lying"

"I wish i were"

The world spun around me awake. The word lingered at the edges of my consciousness like a dark tendril. My heart pounded and I kept my voice steady in spite of my body's need to tremble "Who is she Kael? Stop talking in riddles"

Kael's eyes locked on mine then, as though measuring me, as though deciding whether I was strong enough for the truth and I thought for a moment he would dodge but his lips parted, voice low and slashing.

"Morgana"

The name was a dagger.

Lucian's body tightened and his entire presence shifted. Shadows wrapped more closely around him, writhing like serpents nourished by his rage and the sound that ripped from his throat was not a growl, it was a wolf's howl summoning its eternal enemy.

"No," Lucian snarled, moving forward "She was destroyed, entrapped in bone and blood. I killed her"

Kael's laughter was short, hollow "You cannot kill what was never meant to die. You bound her Lucian. That is all and the seal has cracked"

My chest tightened. Morgana. The name felt ancient, heavy with whispers that I didn't consciously understand but that my soul did and the wolf inside me stirred uneasily, pacing and ears flattened.

Nasir's voice cut in like steel "And what was your part in this, brother, did you break the seal yourself? Did you serve her?" he asked

Kael's eyes grew dark "I bled to keep it from shattering, Nasir. I've fought in the dark while you two sat in your towers of virtue but she breached and now, if you're to survive, if she's to survive" his eyes sliced to me "you'll require me".

The silence that ensued was oppressive and Lucian's fury, Nasir's distrust and Kael's tormented belligerence all pressed in on me until the room felt too small to contain it.

Finally, Lucian snapped "You expect us to trust you after the blood on your hands?"

Kael's jaw tightened "You don't have to trust me, just listen. She's hunting something" His eyes cut to me again, as sharp as a blade "Or rather, someone".

Cold seeped down my spine. 

Lucian immediately stepped in front of me, a wall of shadow and fury "You will not say her name and you will not even look at her" 

Kael's features softened strangely, pain creasing the corners of his eyes "It doesn't matter if i say it. She already knows"

The words slid into me like poison, slow and cold. My wolf whined and a sound only I could internally feel. The shadows around Lucian pulsed, his body shaking with anger he could barely contain and Nasir's claws dug deep into the wooden floor, amber eyes burning.

I forced my voice past the knot in my throat "Why me? Why would she care about me?"

Kael didn’t answer right away. His throat worked, his jaw clenching and then finally “Because you’re the key”

The world tilted “Key…?”

Lucian snarled “Enough of this” He lunged slamming Kael against the wall with his claws digging into his throat and the shadows tightened around Kael’s body like shackles, binding him in place.

Kael didn’t fight. His eyes burned brighter, crimson fire flickering like embers but his body remained still “Kill me and you’ll walk blind into her hands. Let me speak and maybe you’ll live long enough to stop her”

Nasir moved forward, torn between tearing Kael apart and holding Lucian back. His voice was low, conflicted “Lucian”

Lucian bared his teeth and eyes glowing dark as night. “He lies.”

But Kael’s gaze found mine again, locking me in place and stripping the room of everyone else for a single heartbeat.

“I don’t lie about this. She wants you, Trinity and when she comes” He leaned forward against the shadows, crimson eyes burning through me “You’ll have to choose which one of them dies”

The air froze.

Lucian's hold faltered for an instant and his shadows wavering as Nasir's chest heaved, confusion breaking through his fury and me, my knees nearly gave out as Kael's words sliced through every last vestige of frail certainty I'd possessed.

A choice. One of them.

The shadows writhed, the silence grew taut and in that unsustainable stillness, i knew the war raging outside was nothing to the war that had just begun within this room and far away through the cracks of the windows, the faint cry of a howl developed, unprecedented, freezing and tinged with black magic. 

It was coming closer.